


Seven Minutes of Heaven

by sleepylotus



Category: Jane Yellowrock Series - Faith Hunter
Genre: Dark Heir, F/M, Faith Hunter - Freeform, Vampires, kissing in the closet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 14:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10165385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepylotus/pseuds/sleepylotus
Summary: During book #9, Dark Heir, modified scene in which Leo shows Jane the secret safe closet behind the tapestry in his office.  Dang if Jane doesn't have a soft spot for the Master of the City, when he's not trying to kill her.“Kiss me, Jane Yellowrock,” he said softly. “Kiss me now, for tomorrow we all may die.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> A little scene that came to me after listening to the closet scene in Book #9, when Jane and Leo go into the safe room behind the tapestry in his office. It made me think of that party game teenagers play, Seven Minutes of Heaven, to have an excuse to make out in the closet, lol. Obviously that didn’t happen, but I wanted it to, dang it! ;)  
> I own nothing, I love and respect Faith Hunter’s work and this is a fannish creation made for pure fun, for which I receive no monetary compensation. Enjoy!

**I.**

 

After handing over the magical pocket watches Leo gave a wry laugh, and he sounded almost _human_ in that moment. Vulnerable. Bemused. In fact he was doing that a _lot_ that night, and Jane didn’t really know what to think. He’d been acting quite _sane_ as of late, the way he’d been when they very first met, and she’d found him _almost_ irresistible.

Keyword: _almost_.

“I cannot help but wonder, my Jane, if I will be the orchestrator of my own eventual destruction. Perhaps you will use these weapons to kill _me_ someday?”

Despite all the times she had threatened to do just that, Jane found the thought at that moment made her feel… _uncomfortable._ As Leo knelt down to close back up the safe she answered, “I like you as you have been lately, Leo. Forthcoming. Compassionate. A good King to your people. You haven’t even tried to kill me lately. Keep this up and we won’t have a problem.”

That small smile curled his finely drawn lips—she only knew it was there because she could see the curve of his cheek, and she realized she knew him well enough now that she could see it in her mind’s eye. When had she become such an expert on the MOC?

“I admit I have felt in much better form lately.” He still sounded amused, and she assumed this particular result came from frequent feedings from G diMercy. So he surprised her when he rose to his feet, fixing her with that lovely black gaze that held a sparkle of _something_ in that moment. Something… _joyful_. “Would you believe me if I told you that rising in the evening has become easier since you have graced our fair city, my Jane?”

Jane immediately raised one skeptical eyebrow. “Psh. I am _not_ the reason Leo Pellisier gets out of bed in the morning. Nice try.”

His curl of lips faded to a half smile, and there was a sadness in it that Jane almost regretted. “And yet you are not completely unaware of the effect you have on me, Jane Yellowrock. You bait me this morning, leaving your glorious tresses unbound. I think you know how it moves me to see you… _undone_.”

Jane froze, caught dead to rights on that one. She wasn’t the type of woman who usually used her looks to manipulate men—she just wasn’t that pretty, or so she thought. But she had made that conscious decision in regards to Leo—what she didn’t expect was to _like_ the way he looked at her, _this much._

“It seems to work better than threats,” she admitted, winning a dark chuckle from the MOC.

“Ah, you are learning the merits of a more _subtle_ game of wills, _mon chat._ Our gift to you, in the time you have spent with us here.”

Leo neared closer a step, and Jane’s heart quickened in her chest. Though not out of fear—which maybe was stupid on her part. Just because Leo himself looked a little rumpled in his nice soft jammies and was being _almost_ sweet, didn’t mean he wasn’t a danger to her.

“These luxurious raven tresses make their way into my dreams often, did you know?” said Leo softly, daring to reach out and touch them. “I see them flowing down upon my body like a silken curtain, as you ride me.” He slowly swept his fingers through her hair, winning a shudder that was more than a _little_ embarrassing. Just for a moment Jane allowed herself to close her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hands in her hair.

She definitely _wasn’t_ thinking about what it would be like to go to bed with Leo. To trust him enough to let him _inside her body_ —to partake of the pleasures he’d wanted to show her since the very beginning of their acquaintance. No, she was _not_ thinking about that, at all.

When she opened her eyes again he stood unbearably close, hardly a breath between them. They were the same height like this, eye to eye. Trying not to appear unnerved, Jane said coolly, “I wouldn’t have guessed you like to be on bottom, power freak that you are.”

Leo laughed softly, and it was like a brush of silk over her skin, raising gooseflesh up and down her arms. They _really_ needed to get out of this closet.

“Even a King desires surrender once in a while, to the _right_ woman.”

His eyes flicked down to her lips, and that one obvious tell made a damning heat bloom in her belly.

_Crap._

Jane took a step back, which put her up against the wall.

Not good.

But Leo did not advance upon her again, merely held his ground. His tilted his head to regard her, sending his own soft-as-silk hair to swing down in a wave upon his shoulder. As his had earlier, Jane’s own fingers curled with the desire to touch that soft cloud.

“You are quick to advise me in how to be kinder to those who love me,” he said, no doubt referring to their conversation about Dell a few days ago. “Yet I wonder, who will counsel _you_ in treating _my_ heart with mercy, my Jane?”

She thought back on that night, and what he had said about his Primo.

_She deserves for me to be in love with her, but sadly I am not…_

Was Leo trying to tell Jane that he was in love with _her_?

Almost as a kneejerk reflex she quickly insisted, “You _don’t_ love me.”

Leo’s expression went stony, and she realized it was his way of _hiding_ his emotions, rather than betraying a _lack_ of them, as she’d always thought before.

“You think me incapable?” He sounded almost _fragile_ in that moment, and Jane wondered if she was being cruel. She thought on all the people Leo seemed to use for his own appetites. Dell. Katie. Even Gregoire. His meals, every night. He had a _healthy_ sexual appetite, to say the least, and seemingly exercised his _Right of Kings_ any time he got the chance. But truth be told, Leo was not a man who had to order lovers to his bed. They came all too willingly from all around, and it was easy to understand why. He was beautiful, brilliant, powerful, charming…even _fun_ when he was not being a Royal Pain in the Bootie.

Yet, she thought on those who she knew Leo _had_ loved. His Maggie, his sweet Magnolia, whose loss had wounded him so deeply. His daughter, who never came out of the madness of the new scion, and his _son_. The loss of Emmanuel had sent him into a spiral of madness and rage—that had been _quite_ real. Jane knew, because a great deal of it had been directed at _her_ for killing him _._

So perhaps the real answer to the riddle of Leo Pellisier’s heart was that he did not give it easily _or_ freely. His body, yes, to a point. But his love? That was something truly rare, and Jane felt equally humbled and terrified by the thought that maybe he wanted to give it to _her._

Feeling wretched, like she had sold him short somehow, Jane shook her head, her hair sliding over her shoulders. “No, Leo. I do not think you incapable.”

This, at least, seemed to give him some comfort, and the MOC closed his eyes, taking a deep breath he did not really need. And yet, it seemed to calm him, to bring him some solace—the old gesture of being human, or perhaps because the air in this small dark space was now filled with Jane’s scent.

“Jane, I have lived a _long_ life. Filled with wonders and evil deeds, perhaps in equal measure. Do you know what I would regret most having not done, should the Son of Darkness kill us all?”

“I’m afraid to ask.” She didn’t really sound like it, though. Leo could hear the curiosity in her tone, no matter what words she used to frame it.

“I would regret never having known what it is like to kiss you.”

“Leo…” Her voice did not hold _nearly_ the warning that she meant it to. It sounded… _soft._ Too soft, far too _complacent_ to ward off the MOC. He siddled closer once more, his hand slowly lifting towards her cheek. He moved deliberately at a snail’s crawl, no threat, giving her every chance in the world to push him away.

Why didn’t she push him away?

When he cradled her cheek in his hand a small sigh escaped her; a _damning_ tell if ever there was one.

“Kiss me, Jane Yellowrock,” he said softly. “Kiss me now, for tomorrow we all may die.”

As his hand shifted to slide into her hair, cradling the base of her skull, she should have pushed him away. She definitely _shouldn’t_ have closed her eyes, or let him slowly pull her to him. She should have reminded him that she belonged to Bruiser, his former Primo, and that it was in _very_ poor taste to paw his friend’s girlfriend. Yet somehow she seemed to forget _all_ this in the few seconds it took for Leo to pull her close and press his lips to hers.

It was a gentle kiss.

A pressing of lips filled with sweetness and longing— _never_ in a million years would Jane have guesses Leo would kiss her like _that._ Like she was something precious to savor, not just a curious thing that he wanted to own, or a lover he wanted to conquer.

It seemed like it was over before it had really begun, Leo pulling back to look into her eyes. She didn’t know what he saw there—her thoughts were far too scrambled to properly untangle—her heart was pounding and her knees felt _weak._ But whatever it was, it seemed to bring him some satisfaction. He smiled that small half smile, tracing her jaw with the blade of his finger. There were so many things he could have said, but rather than goad her or make demands he simply backed away, bowing his head in a gesture that was somehow both humble and Kingly.

“There is a part of me that does not want to let you go,” he admitted, his eyes affixed upon the tapestry beside them. “A part that wants to keep you from this danger—to protect you who holds my heart in your claws, at all costs. And yet, I know that I must, for you are our Great Hope, Jane Yellowrock. If _you_ cannot defeat the Son of Darkness—we _all_ are doomed.”

“I will kill him,” Jane promised, and she believed what she said. “I’ll even do my best to bring you the body, so you have your bargaining chip for the Euro Vamps.”

Leo smiled then, and it was a brilliant thing to behold, the kind of smile that was rare to see on him and somehow it made her heart _ache._ “Then as usual, my Jane, I will be in your debt for such a favor.”

“Just keep paying me well, and we’ll be square,” she assured him, not really sure she _wanted_ Leo in her debt. Men in debt did foolish things sometimes, and that she could do without in regards to the MOC.

“Be careful, _mon chat_.”

She returned his smile, though that was a promise she couldn’t exactly make. Going after the Son of Darkness was pretty much the most dangerous thing she’d ever done, possibly even suicidal.

Jane decided to escape before things could get too sentimental again, the taste of the MOC still sweet upon her lips as she swept out from under the tapestry and headed for the broken office door.

If she _did_ survive, she may have opened a can of worms she couldn’t easily put back.

Even so, the memory of his hand in her hair sent a thrill down her spine.

_Crap._


End file.
